


A Moment Of Peace

by softwareinstability



Series: Tumblr Prompts [3]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Post-Pacifist Ending, Short, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-12
Updated: 2019-04-12
Packaged: 2020-01-12 07:08:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18441551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softwareinstability/pseuds/softwareinstability
Summary: "You have to take a moment for yourself. This is your freedom too, you know." Kara speaks quietly, simply, and the sentiment finds its way into the heart of him.





	A Moment Of Peace

**Author's Note:**

> for an anonymous ask on Tumblr: Markus/Kara - first kiss.
> 
> Feel free to send a prompt! http://driftingdeviant.tumblr.com/post/183797634220/detroit-become-human-prompts  
> (It gives me a good excuse to write some nice short things between working on longer fics. :D)

Markus isn't sure that he has the right place until he hears a quiet voice from behind him.

"Markus?"

He turns around to see Kara crossing the garden towards him, pulling off the gloves she's wearing before she reaches him and wraps him in a tight, warm embrace. "What are you _doing_ here?" She asks, her voice muffled where she's pressed to his shoulder. "I saw, on the news. Everything," she adds, easing away from him to look him in the eyes. Markus feels like she sees to the core of him, just like he did the first time they met. It's strange to him, because he barely had the chance to know her then, but still.. it's there. "What you did, Markus.. what you did for our people."

There's still that haunted look to her, hiding behind her smile. Echoes of her past in the tone of her voice. Markus doesn't know the full extent of her story, but he can guess at enough of it. Most of the stories he's heard seem to go the same way, after all. 

"I'm sorry that it was too late for you," he says. "I.. I reached out to Rose. She helped so many of our people, you know, and I-" He swallows, curling his hand over Kara's shoulder. "I wanted to see that you were safe."

"You really came all this way to check up on me? What did Rose tell you?" She sounds almost defensive, and Markus isn't sure how to answer. Kara gives a little shake of her head though, and it seems that he doesn't need to. "She told you about Luther and Alice, of course she did. It still hurts, I won't lie about that, but I'm okay," she says. "Rose has been so good to me, and.. Adam's actually very sweet. I _am_ okay, Markus." It isn't entirely convincing, but Markus nods all the same. She has endless determination, he's seen it for himself. Even if she isn't okay right now, she will be.

She smiles at him again, and the last of the memories that had been casting shadows on her ebb away for now. "How are _you_?"

"I keep having to remind myself that we prevailed." He doesn't say _won_ , because as much of a struggle as it all was, he never let himself think of it as a war. If he had, it would have been too easy to get swept up in thoughts of vengeance and dominance over the humans, and Markus is certain they wouldn't be where they are right now if he'd done that. Not that they've made the great strides he'd been hoping for as yet, but change is at least on the horizon. "Things are happening, slowly. We are promised change, but it's being given at the pace the humans set, and in spite of the public face of acceptance they put on for us.. it's slow."

"It's happening, though," Kara reminds him. "Because of you, Markus."

"Because of everyone who believed," Markus corrects. He's never been good at taking credit for what happened, nor what's to come, as much as the media and his people try to thrust it upon him.

" _You_ ," Kara insists. She gives the house a sidelong look, and smiles. "Come inside, at least? You've come a long way, you can stay a while. Can't you?"

"I'd like that."

There's a moment, just inside the door, where Kara pauses like she's waiting for something that doesn't come. It takes Markus a second to realise that she's still expecting to see Alice, and he touches Kara's arm, unsure how to comfort her. But once again she just shakes off the memory, the pain, and there's just the troubled smile as she leads him through to the lounge. It looks cosy, and there's evidence of family all around. Not the family Kara expected to end up a part of, but family all the same.

"How long are you staying?" Kara asks, once they're sitting side by side on the couch.

"I have to head back tomorrow morning. More meetings." Markus tries not to let his frustration surface too often, but it's easier to be honest about things when he's miles away from it all. "Every time we jump through one of their hoops, another appears in its place. There's only so much that we can compromise on, and I'm.. I'm worried, Kara. I can't do what we've had to do to get this far already, not again." Of course he knows he will if he has to. He _knows_ he's strong enough. He's turned into a natural leader, and he will answer to whatever's asked of him with grace and courage. He's tenacious that way, and they both know it, but none of that means it's _easy._

"Markus." She doesn't need to say anything else; Markus hears the unspoken words behind that one. Still, she continues. "You've done so much.. You _do_ so much to take care of our people, to ensure that our world has any kind of future at all. I ask you how you are and you tell me how our road to equal rights and freedom is looking instead of answering. You look after everyone, but who takes care of you?"

"My role in this is about more than just me. I can't stop continuing our fight, Kara," Markus tells her, closing his eyes as he hears himself. 

"Do you remember the first time we spoke? You looked so lost to me, Markus. So tired." She sounds a lot like she had back then, Markus thinks. 

"I remember."

"You look the same way right now," she says, half-turning towards him to touch his cheek, surprising him with how warm she feels. He tries to remember the last time anyone touched him like that, recalls a brief moment with North, but.. it hadn't felt like this. His skin retracts beneath Kara's fingertips without him even thinking about it, and her lips curve in response, first into a smile. Then a concerned frown.

"You have to take a moment for yourself. This is your freedom too, you know." Kara speaks quietly, simply, and the sentiment finds its way into the heart of him. He's been dwelling on the bigger issues for too long, straining beneath the weight of all the expectation, all the trust that's been placed in him, and it's good to be reminded that he exists both as a part of the android movement and as a unique entity apart from it. 

He covers her hand with his own, well aware that for how small and fragile she seems, she's anything but. She's been through more than most and she's still here, still determined to live. 

He smiles, shakes his head. "What makes you think this isn't that moment?"

Somehow it's _that_ which makes her glance away, her smile becoming almost shy. Markus brushes his fingers over her knuckles, where her hand still rests so lightly on his cheek, making her look back at him. She seems to be at odds with herself, but her eyes flick down to Markus' lips a second before her decision's made. Markus feels it through their shared connection, feels that moment of abandon right before she leans in and presses her mouth against his. Something catches in his throat; a word, a breath, he isn't sure. He closes his eyes and lets go of her hand to thread his fingers into her hair instead, holding her in for a while longer. 

Her eyes are brighter when she eases back again, and Markus takes a second to analyse the look on her face as something close to _innocent._ _Hopeful?_

"Why did you-"

"I don't know," she says, letting her hand fall away from his cheek. "Was it not-"

"No, no. It was. It _was_ , Kara." Markus feels himself grinning, and it's such a strange, rare thing that it takes him a moment to compose himself again. "So Rose likes old romantic movies?"

Kara covers her face with her hands, groaning with embarrassment, but Markus pulls them away. "I'll have to thank her, I guess."

"Markus.."

"I mean it. What meetings?" He jokes, making Kara laugh, and he's willing to bet it isn't something she's had much cause to do lately either. It's good to hear. 

"You're _going_ to those meetings. They're important," she chides, when her laughter dies down. "But so are you. I hope you see that."

"I think I do, now."


End file.
